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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-13 11:49 AM Today's QOTD: how many hours of sleep do you get a night? What time do you go to bed and what time do you wake up? Does your sleep schedule differ on the weekends? I am really glad you asked that Donato. One question I was going to ask the group is if anyone has difficulty falling asleep after a workout. I find that I am not getting as much sleep as I would like. My workouts tend to be late in the evening hours though and may last until around 10-11pm. After that I get home and prepare for bed but find I cannot sleep. Even though I am tired, I think my body is still going and has trouble relaxing. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I am able to shift times but would it be that I am just working out to late in the day? Too tired to sleep? Maybe it's just me... Even yesterday I had trouble sleeping. I completed my 5.5hr workout around 8pm. Then got home, took a shower, ate something, watched the end of the Cubs game and was in bed by 10:30pm. Still I was not able to fall asleep until around 2am. I did have a lot of GUs during the ride though and I know caffeine affects me much more than others, but still... So for me it's normally 6-7hrs of sleep a night on weeknights. I try to go to bed by midnight and wake up around 7-8am. On the weekends it has been about the same lately. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-13 9:49 AM Today's QOTD: how many hours of sleep do you get a night? What time do you go to bed and what time do you wake up? Does your sleep schedule differ on the weekends? I'm pretty standard with 7-7.5 hours a night. If I get less than 7, my body is not happy and I find I end up skipping workouts. I occasionally get a full 8 which does miracles for recovery for me. I usually go to bed by 10-10:30pm and get up without the use of an alarm clock at about 6am these days. It is also very light dependent for me. As the sun rises earlier, i will be getting up earlier. Weekends are the same for me. I'll go to bed and wake up at the same time usually. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() maurof78 - 2009-04-13 11:32 AM I am really glad you asked that Donato. One question I was going to ask the group is if anyone has difficulty falling asleep after a workout. I find that I am not getting as much sleep as I would like. My workouts tend to be late in the evening hours though and may last until around 10-11pm. After that I get home and prepare for bed but find I cannot sleep. Even though I am tired, I think my body is still going and has trouble relaxing. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I am able to shift times but would it be that I am just working out to late in the day? Too tired to sleep? Maybe it's just me... Even yesterday I had trouble sleeping. I completed my 5.5hr workout around 8pm. Then got home, took a shower, ate something, watched the end of the Cubs game and was in bed by 10:30pm. Still I was not able to fall asleep until around 2am. I did have a lot of GUs during the ride though and I know caffeine affects me much more than others, but still... So for me it's normally 6-7hrs of sleep a night on weeknights. I try to go to bed by midnight and wake up around 7-8am. On the weekends it has been about the same lately. Mauro, great job on a big workout yesterday. There are a few different reasons why you can't get to sleep. I'm an old fart so caffeine late in the day will definitely give me trouble when trying to sleep. For some people, working out late gives them problems. Not being able to sleep (with your heart rate not coming down) when you go to bed can be a sign of overtraining. What does your history of training and sleeping tell you? |
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![]() enginerd - 2009-04-13 3:30 PM maurof78 - 2009-04-13 11:32 AM I am really glad you asked that Donato. One question I was going to ask the group is if anyone has difficulty falling asleep after a workout. I find that I am not getting as much sleep as I would like. My workouts tend to be late in the evening hours though and may last until around 10-11pm. After that I get home and prepare for bed but find I cannot sleep. Even though I am tired, I think my body is still going and has trouble relaxing. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I am able to shift times but would it be that I am just working out to late in the day? Too tired to sleep? Maybe it's just me... Even yesterday I had trouble sleeping. I completed my 5.5hr workout around 8pm. Then got home, took a shower, ate something, watched the end of the Cubs game and was in bed by 10:30pm. Still I was not able to fall asleep until around 2am. I did have a lot of GUs during the ride though and I know caffeine affects me much more than others, but still... So for me it's normally 6-7hrs of sleep a night on weeknights. I try to go to bed by midnight and wake up around 7-8am. On the weekends it has been about the same lately. Mauro, great job on a big workout yesterday. There are a few different reasons why you can't get to sleep. I'm an old fart so caffeine late in the day will definitely give me trouble when trying to sleep. For some people, working out late gives them problems. Not being able to sleep (with your heart rate not coming down) when you go to bed can be a sign of overtraining. What does your history of training and sleeping tell you? a huge workout - way to go! Caffeine in the p.m. used to make me crash so I had no trouble sleeping, but now it's starting to keep me awake. My mind races and I can't get comfortable. I've also read (can't remember where) that working out late in the day can keep you awake. Hasn't been a problem for me yet, but I always feel like it's a gamble when I exercise in the evening. |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() My sleep schedual changes depending on if I have to get in a 5:30 am workout or not. But basically I am in bed 10-10:30pm and up around 6:45-7am so 8 hours ish. On early am workout days I go to bed 9:45-10 and get up 5:15 am so less sleep. Weekends are typically up utill 11:00 and sleep in until 8 ish. So short answer long 7-9 hours, more on weekends. Tonight I don't even get home from the pool until 9pm... I find I can workout, go to bed and crash out dead asleep fairly quickly, ride the decreasing HR right down into unconsciousness. I have found that when I am overtraining/working out more, I have had problems falling to sleep. It is like I am tossing and turning all night and have lots of dreams (REM land) with no memory of having ever landed in deep sleep. That is the only time I have problems sleeping. Well, maybe the night before a race, or if I have stomach flue (ewe). Edited by Baowolf 2009-04-13 3:17 PM |
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Regular ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() My preferred sleep schedule is in bed between 10-10:30 and then up between 6-6:30. I am a real bear when I don't get my 8 hours in. Unfortunately with my tri club- our spin and run classes don't finish until 9:30. Lucky for me, I live fairly close, so I am home within 10 minutes, but then a light snack, time with the hubby, and shower, means that I am not in bed until closer to 11:00. I also need some time to come down from a workout and am affected by daylight....so with sunset getting later and later- I know that in a month, I will really be struggling to get enough zzz's. I find that once I get to sleep, I am out but it can be tough on somedays regardless of the level of activity for the day. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-13 12:49 PM Today's QOTD: how many hours of sleep do you get a night? What time do you go to bed and what time do you wake up? Does your sleep schedule differ on the weekends? Good question! I usually get 7-8 hours of sleep during the week, and maybe a little more on the weekends. I love my sleep! If I get less than 6.5 hours the night before an early morning workout I'm pretty much useless. During the week I like to get to bed between 9.30 and 10.30 depending how tired I am. I swim 3 mornings a week before work so I'm usually up about 4.45, and about 6.30 on mornings I don't swim. I've never been a late sleeper, so I'm usually up around 7.00, and definitely no later than 8.00 on the weekends. I also find that if my evening work out is late in the evening, no matter how tired I am I have a hard time falling alseep. I try to get my workouts in before I go to work and/or as early in the evening as possible. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() maurof78 - 2009-04-13 1:32 PM enginerd - 2009-04-13 11:49 AM Today's QOTD: how many hours of sleep do you get a night? What time do you go to bed and what time do you wake up? Does your sleep schedule differ on the weekends? I am really glad you asked that Donato. One question I was going to ask the group is if anyone has difficulty falling asleep after a workout. I find that I am not getting as much sleep as I would like. My workouts tend to be late in the evening hours though and may last until around 10-11pm. After that I get home and prepare for bed but find I cannot sleep. Even though I am tired, I think my body is still going and has trouble relaxing. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I am able to shift times but would it be that I am just working out to late in the day? Too tired to sleep? Maybe it's just me... Even yesterday I had trouble sleeping. I completed my 5.5hr workout around 8pm. Then got home, took a shower, ate something, watched the end of the Cubs game and was in bed by 10:30pm. Still I was not able to fall asleep until around 2am. I did have a lot of GUs during the ride though and I know caffeine affects me much more than others, but still... So for me it's normally 6-7hrs of sleep a night on weeknights. I try to go to bed by midnight and wake up around 7-8am. On the weekends it has been about the same lately. Sometimes I find after a HUGE workout (i.e. 20-mile run or whatever -- something in the 4-5 hour range that taxes me pretty well), even early in the day can affect my sleep that night. I think that when we exercise at a decent intensity for hours on end it really jacks up the metabolism. On nights like this I often complain of "hot legs" -- I am just warm and unable to relax as deeply as I'd like. I would imagine if I did workouts that actually end late at night it would be several hours before my body would wind down and relax. I'd be pulling out all the stops: herbal tea, warm milk, reading articles from The Economist, watching McNeal/Lehrer... ![]() |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Great question and to answer it, before I started this crazy new job back 4 months ago my sleep schedule was very normal and organized. But now since I either work from 7-3 or 3-11 and the schedule is never the same and my workouts are never the same, I have no set sleep schedule. I normally get around 7-8, but when I go to bed around 12am or 1am, I noticed I don't sleep nearly as well as going to be earlier. However getting up to go swimming in the morning at 4:30 am is also messing with my sleep patterns. I am watching my work schedule trying to take off and request days so that I try to even out that sleep pattern as much as possible. Good question! |
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Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() So my computer's been down and been to busy at work to post so here I am catching up now that I have a breather. I'll get my logs updated today as well. for nutrition - I have no experience pre-race/workout. Daily I find it better if I keep ahead of the hunger. If I let myself get too hungryI can't stop eating. It's like I become a bottoless pit. For sleep I get about 7 hours. Usually in bed by about 10 and get up around 5:30. Usually I'm useless after 9 or so, so I probably7 should go to bed earlier, but can't convince myself of that fact. |
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![]() | ![]() Mmmmm sleeepppp... I usually get about 7 hours. Unless of course it's a morning swim day like today (they have classes in the afternoon but I've got other commitments) and I only get 5 or so, and I wake up 15 times during the night freaked out because I believe I slept through my alarm. I seem to have a lot of trouble falling asleep before midnight, especially when I have to get up early, I always get stressed out about having to get up early which causes me to stay awake even longer... it's a vicious cycle. However, on weekends I'll usually get around 10 hours, I like to sleep in late when I can. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? |
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Regular ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 10:14 AM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? Easy question for me after my first race... out of 106 Females- 88th on swim but 2nd on the run! ![]() Questions about swimming? Where do I start?! ![]() Advice re: running? To run faster, you must train faster....It doesn't mean that every training run has to be fast but do make the miles count. Do some tempo/interval training and consider increasing the speed on your long runs a bit too. Since the run is at the end, you know that your form may suffer as you tire, so do a form check every so often to ensure that the shoulders, arms, face are all relaxed. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() run_yc_run - 2009-04-14 1:30 PM Questions about swimming? Where do I start?! ![]() Hi Yvonne. Yes, swimming is definitely very technique driven. I'd guess this means your hip position is dropping when you don't use a buoy which is creating drag. Could be becase you lift your head (try looking straight down in the pool) or need to kick a little more to hold your legs up. Hopefully Kyla or Jules or someone else with a lot of swim experience can chime in with more advice. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 12:14 PM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? This is actually a tough one for me. I feel like I'm always inclined to say that running is my strongest discipline....but I think this is bc I have the most experirence in this area. If you had asked me last season, I would have said I'm weakest in swimming, hands down! But, while I still have some work to do I have made such tremendous headway in the pool over the past year! It's amazing how much I've grown to love swimming, and how much stronger I've gotten. I probably have the most work to do on the bike, simply from lack of time in the saddle. I could agree more with Yvonne that by training faster, you will become a faster runner. Last year I added speed workouts, tempo runs and/or hill workouts, once a week, to my training. It makes a noticeable difference. I currently do speed work once a week, and usually change it up between long & short intervals. |
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Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 9:14 AM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? I am weak in all 3 disciplines - really. My weakest of the 3 would be swimming (as I never learned how to swim free style by someone else - up until just over a year ago). My strongest discipline would be running as this is the first sport I started training for almost 3 years ago. Unfortunately, I do not think that I can give any advice to you guys. I am here to read what you have to write and learn from it - actually, this this the best advice I can give - listen to experienced people and learn from their mistakes. It is can save a lot (frustration, injury, etc.). |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 9:14 AM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? Well, I guess my strongest is running. I'm by no means an elite runner, but I can hold my own. My last 10k was 45:00, and my last 5k was 24, but on hilly terrain. I used to be a sub 18 5k guy, but that seems like another lifetime. I trained all winter on my run for Baker 2 Vegas and totally changed my form. Once I master it and put in the miles I think I can break sub 20 on a 5k. I haven't done much long distance since HS, but did a weekly long run of 12 miles. I'm currently taking a break from running as my right foot is splayed (duck footed) to about 1 o'clock and I'm trying to correct it with weights and stretches. I'd like to say I'm a strong cyclist but I'm not quite where I want to be. I'd say that my riding skill is above average, but could still use improvement. I can average about 19 on a road bike over 20 miles, and I've set this year as the year I break from medocrity fredness to being a decent rider. Swimming is my weakest discipline. I can breaststroke and backstroke all day, I've surfed in my teens, but it doesn't mean much if you can't do the crawl. I'm learning how to do it, can only manage a lap so far, but I'm going 5 days a week and working my tail off. I just talked to a coach about my swimming and will probably get lessons. I'm just wonder how long it took everyone to get to that level where they could go 1-2k nonstop? Advice on the run: Form is underrated. Too many people think running is a natural extention. Its not. Bad form equates to slow time and injuries. Always try to evaluate your form, I evaluated several methods and the one I went with improved my time all the while I use less energy. It amazes me how many coaches just give you a training schedule, nutrition plan, and pay zero attention to form. Edited by furiousferret 2009-04-14 4:44 PM |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I suck fairly evenly across events. I have done more running events in the past year including a marathon, so I will call that my best event. I can't go fast, but I can go far. I have the shortest history and the least access to swimming so I will call that my worst. I swim 2:00 in races and can usualy hit it in practice now a days on drills of 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 or 500. Not sure about 1000 will be doing a TT in a few weeks at that distance. Swimming is hard because I have no access to a coach and can only swim twice a week (I do get in 7200 yards a week typically). Technique wize I went from no freestyle experience to taking a TI 2 day workshop in June of 08 and have been working off that experience to try to improve my swimming. For biking I am adding in hill work this year. I have a nice hill near my house I go up 2500 feet ish over 20 miles. But ya still slow on the bike too. Longest ride ever was 77 miles. I hope is gets warmer soon wind chil 20 F today and flurries. |
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Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 1:49 PM run_yc_run - 2009-04-14 1:30 PM Questions about swimming? Where do I start?! ![]() Hi Yvonne. Yes, swimming is definitely very technique driven. I'd guess this means your hip position is dropping when you don't use a buoy which is creating drag. Could be becase you lift your head (try looking straight down in the pool) or need to kick a little more to hold your legs up. Hopefully Kyla or Jules or someone else with a lot of swim experience can chime in with more advice. I am definitely not an expert, but I had the exact same problem. Due to a lower back injury last year, the only way I could swim, was by using a pull buoy. It took me about 4 or 5 month to heal and all that time I used the pull buoy. By the time I recovered, I could not swim 2 laps without it. I got "addicted" to it. Only a couple of months ago I actually, "re-learned" how to swim without it - with my coach's help. What Donato said is 100% true. One way to "fix" this, is by pushing the chest down (towards the bottom of the pool) when looking down. This, automatically causes the lower part of the body (legs and hip) to come up to the surface (actually out of the water at times) and ensures that the hip and legs are not sinking. It requires some practice, but after some time, it makes wonders. |
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Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() furiousferret - 2009-04-14 2:34 PM enginerd - 2009-04-14 9:14 AM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? I'm just wonder how long it took everyone to get to that level where they could go 1-2k nonstop? Advice on the run: Form is underrated. Too many people think running is a natural extention. Its not. Bad form equates to slow time and injuries. Always try to evaluate your form, I evaluated several methods and the one I went with improved my time all the while I use less energy. It amazes me how many coaches just give you a training schedule, nutrition plan, and pay zero attention to form. It took me 9 months from swimming 1 length of a 25 yards pool, to swim 1,500 meters (it was a slow swim - but I made it). Thanks for the advice on running form. I am interested to learn more aboit it. Any good links/sources of info? |
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![]() enginerd - 2009-04-14 12:14 PM QOTD: what's your strongest discipline? What's your weakest? What questions do you have about your weakest? What advice do you have for others your strongest? Despite thinking of myself as a runner for the past long time, I think the swim will be my strongest discipline. Muscle memory from all the thousands of hours in the pool as a kid, I guess. My weakest is the bike, so I'll be putting extra effort into that this summer. re: swimming issues - I agree with Donato and Ronen that the pull buoy can become a crutch b/c it relieves you from having to worry about your hip and leg position. I was a distance swimmer and have a "lazy" kick, so I'm not making much of a splash back there but I (usually) keep my feet moving enough to maintain hip/leg position. I've noticed, though, that when I get tired, my kick gets even lazier and my hips sink, throwing my whole stroke off. So you don't have to kick like crazy, and in fact you probably don't want to b/c it uses too much energy, but you don't want your legs dragging. Kyla might be able to point you to better drills, but here's a link that looks like it has some good ones - and tells you what they're for (read the R sidebar on body position): http://www.wsumastersswimming.org/workouts/drills.html I also agree with Yvonne and Kelli on the speed work for running. I always just went out and ran, but this past year I've followed a training plan that involves speed work and I've gotten a lot faster. Now I have to work on not running too hard on my EZ days, something I learned the hard way (injury). I'd add that speed work can help your swimming as well. |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() <----- not rocking at a 7 min mile pace. I averaged 8:40 for my first marathon, which was about the same as my pace for the half marathon 9 months previously and for the run of my first Oly. I am supposed to run a 9:00 pace for the IM mary, we shall see how that goes (must have faith in the master plan). I hadn't done any speed work at all prior to March of this year though. So we see how it goes with making me less slow in the run. Today's run was fun, 10 min wu, 5 min LT (pace HR 175), 15 min easy, 5 min LT, 15 min easy, 5 min LT, 5 min easy cool down (20 F windchill, 20 mph winds, flurries). It is supposed to make me faster or at least tired.. 8). |
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![]() | ![]() I feel like Ronen with this question. My strongest would be the run, but I don't feel qualified to be giving any advice. In fact now I can't even run a couple miles without my knee bothering me, still not sure what the issue is yet. My weakest discipline would be the swim by far, I just started learning freestyle last week and it's a struggle. 25-50m and I'm breathing hard and out of oxygen and I have to stop for a minute. I try to go slow but then I'm underwater longer and I can't get enough oxygen, so I react by pulling faster to get to that third stroke so I can breath... but then by working harder I feel like I need more oxygen much sooner. The swim coach has told me to try and minimize my kick so I'm not working so hard, which I've been doing, but I still feel out of breath all the time. Is this something that just comes with experience and practice? Or is there something I can work on? |
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![]() Ronen - 2009-04-14 5:57 PM Thanks for the advice on running form. I am interested to learn more aboit it. Any good links/sources of info? runnersworld.com has some articles on form, including this overview, and it also hosts a bunch of forums. I also like CoolRunning Australia - not as splashy but the forums are great, you can almost hear the Aussie accents. One of the things I've tried form-wise is to go for a shorter stride with faster turnover (for endurance running, not sprinting). It's supposed to be more efficient, and reduce injury risk. I haven't been very scientific about it, but I think I've been able to go to a shorter stride without losing speed and it's definitely made a difference when coming back from injury. What do you guys think about stride length? |
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